Some of you have heard a lot of things about Green Gage plum and may be wondering how it actually tastes but have never had the opportunity to try it. I will give my review and attempt to write a very detailed description of the flavor. (I just picked two plums from my trees to taste) Reine Claude Doree (sought after variety of Green Gage) Smelling the outside of the fruit, the aroma is very reminiscent of the intense fragrance of yellow color cherry plums (Myrobalan), some mild soft "apricot" smell, though with some slight "plum texture" as well. The initial impression from the flavor was "most delightful flavor". The type of flavor was not extremely unique, but very good. It was kind of Mirabelle plum like (I mean in terms of having a little apricot flavor), a little bit of a lovely Pluot flavor as well. The flavor is sort of similar to Japanese plums ordinarily found at a supermarket, and almost a little similar to Shiro plums (yellow color) too. Hints of honeydew melon and green watermelon rind. "delectable" and fully ripe flavor, somewhat delicate flavor but not too weak. The fruit size was a little bit smaller than the other Green Gage variety. standard Green Gage (I'm assuming the variety is 'Verte', but I'm not sure) The fruit size was significantly bigger than the Reine Claude Doree, but might not have been fully ripe. Even despite that, I could tell that it was a lower quality tasting plum, compared to the other one. Still not bad, but kind of a not fully ripe flavor, very slightly "starchy" (not fully converted to sugars yet), or very slightly "tannic" (astringent). Taste was like a normal supermarket plum but a bit more on the "green" tasting side, maybe a hint of grass and green melon. I still think this plum could have breeding potential if crossed with something else that is sweeter and more ripe. The trees are very young and this is the first year they have produced any fruit. The Reine Claude Doree fruit was also a paler color, like a very pale green, almost as if it seemed to be turning white, whereas the the standard Green Gage was a beautiful green color. Edit, an update: I just tasted a standard green gage fruit from the tree again, 6 days later, after it had the chance to become more ripe. Here is my review. smelling the skin, it has some exquisite plum aroma, moderately better than a supermarket plum. flavor of pluot and a little bit of nectarine. very slight grass flavor. besides from and in addition to that, there's something very "green" about the aroma (I could only compare to maybe Japanese ume plum, or green wine grape flavor).

Thanks for the info Ginni. I'm also a pet owner. Not all these items would necessarily be used for suet, nor is this list all inclusive, nonetheless these are additional food items that should never be fed to dogs as they may be toxic and/or fatal: Fish -- If fed exclusively or in high amounts can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. Cat food - generally too high in protein and fats Raisins / Grapes / Currants - kidney damage Avacado - vomiting and diarrhea Hops - Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death Mushrooms - Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death. Onions and garlic - Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions. Nuts, including and especially macadamia Chocolate/coffee/tea/caffeine - toxic to heart and nervous system fat trimmings (Pancreatitis) Human vitamins with iron - Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys Milk or dairy products Salt - can lead to elecrolyte imbalances Sugars or artificial sweeteners (hypoglycemia or liver failure) yeast dough Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.

the block cage is the one for the molded woodpecker blocks the other are the square suet cages. When i make my mix i use some peanut butter and thicken the suet mix with cornmeal or rolled oats and mixed bird seed and when the fats harden up enough to spoon into the metal cage and i press it down to fill the block. and if it's not hardened enough i stick it in the freezer for awhile before i put it out. the others i use sorghum or molasses and peanut butter in summer instead of fats and they are gummy enough to hold together too. but i also used the plastic trays from old suet blocks or the halfs of the plastic trays that raspbpberrys or blackberrys come in and put them in the suet cages if the mix is not thick or gummy enough

Our gas grill has infrared on the rotisserie and whatever we cook tastes fabulous! Sometimes we put foil packets of soaked chips in there (punched so the smoke can add flavor), and that works well too. The gas grills both work fine, and I'm not sure what they would do without soaked chips for the smoke. If you have a vineyard (which we do), use those cut up prunings as soaked chips! Yummy smoke!! And serve the wine from your vines while you watch the BBQ! Oh my! Nothing bettah!